We  arrived last night at the American Air force base in Aviano, about an hour's drive north west of Venezia, checked in to the inn on base, and promptly got lost looking for a restaurant, gave up, went back to the inn and crashed.

Dennis was sure that we wouldn't get on the military "space available" flight on Tuesday evening, it was only when the landing wheels left the ground, that he breathed easy. We were among the last people to board, and had about an hour and a half's wait till we knew for sure we were on the flight, and for anyone who has doubts as to how US military personal and veterans are treated, I can say that we were well taken care of, and all in all, the uncertainly of there being space on the plane and the waiting aside, it was one of the best and pleasantest flights we've ever taken, way, way better than any American commercial airline. Dennis's Uncle Sam was real good to us.

Entering Italy from the north

This morning we got on the road at around 8:30, maybe later... and proceeded to drive south to my cousins' house in Toscana, a more or less 4 hour hour drive. Driving in Italy is so smooth, the roads are fantastic, signs were good, AND you can get excellent espresso EVERYWHERE, including at petrol stations, which is how I thought it was all over until I came to the States.

Entrance to Nurit and Yaron's house in Toscana

Something about the dry heat and the light, and how the sun feels in Italy has a profound effect on me, perhaps because it's so similar to the light in Israel, or maybe I'm just jet lagged after three days of traveling, see for yourselves.